When Anita and Peter de Boer moved from the Netherlands nearly twenty years ago they found themselves missing the authentic taste of cheese from their homeland. Dreaming of recapturing that taste, Anita began tinkering with gouda recipes at home, but the cheese always seemed to be missing something. On a trip to the Netherlands, Anita met a cheese maker who taught her the secrets to making a traditional Dutch gouda. Armed with the knowledge, Anita was finally able to reproduce the cheese of her homeland and add a few unique twists as well!
 

In 2010 Anita and Peter accomplished a dream. They opened their small 36-acre dairy in Rochester and the even smaller Tunawerth Creamery, which is run out of a garage-sized structure behind their house in Tenino. Although not certified, their small, family-owned dairy and creamery are run in accordance with organics standards. Their happy cows graze on the pastures in Rochester nearly year round and in the coldest months they are fed GMO-free barley that Anita and Peter harvest themselves.
 

Their gouda is made from raw milk and aged for 60 days. Look for their nettle, red pepper, and cumin goudas, as well as their ultra creamy cream cheese! Tunawerth also makes a low-pasteurized milk. The bottles are held at 145 degrees for 30 minutes. The low-pasteurization process kills bacteria but keeps all the beneficial enzymes in tact. Their yogurts are made from raw milk and are later heated as part of the thickening process. They even have a Greek yogurt with no additives. It’s made the old-fashioned way where the whey is strained out to create a thicker, creamier texture.
 

Anita and Peter pride themselves on being a small family dairy and creamery. They pay attention to all the details that go into making a great tasting product from start to finish. And it really pays off in the final product. Tunawerth’s handcrafted cheese and dairy products are a favorite amongst staff and customers with good reason. The milk is rich and delicious, the yogurt is creamy with the perfect hint of tartness, and the hard cheeses are too good to believe. Give yourself a treat and pick up any of Tunawerth’s delectable products!

This is, dare we say, the perfect cup of hot cocoa. So rich and delicious you won't believe that it's dairy-free and has no refined sugar! Just the right treat for a cold winter night that not only warms you, but nourishes you too. 

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk

1 cup canned coconut milk

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup honey

Optional add-ins: dash of cinnamon, cardamom, or chili powder

Directions

​Add all ingredients to a medium sauce pan and whisk together. Bring to a boil continuing to whisk. Pour into cups and enjoy! Makes 2 servings.

Married for 12 years to her best friend, Jessie works full time caring for her family which includes homeschooling her 2 boys and tending to their pet chickens.
 

What do you do here at Farm Fresh Market and how long have you worked here? I’ve been working at Farm Fresh for 3 years. I put freight away and stock shelves. I started back when they were a stand. I worked in the warehouse receiving shipments from farmers and packaging orders. It’s changed mainly in the last year because we still received and packaged orders when we first moved to the Black Lake location and we were only open on weekends. So it’s been pretty cool watching it grow. 
 

What do you do in your spare time? We like to hunt & fish. I have two boys, so that is my life! I love being outdoors. I like to be around water, oceans and rivers. I find it calming. My son, Riley, helped train a friend’s dog for hunting birds. They had pigeons and Riley took care of the pigeons everyday and they would release them from their cages and the dog would point up at them. We also forage for wild fruit, like berries and apples, and hunt for mushrooms.
 

What drew you to natural foods? Raw milk! I had a nutritionist and decided I wanted to be healthier, raise my kids healthy, so that’s what drew me to natural foods. I went to Tom & Celia’s stand to buy raw milk and I kept asking Celia if they were hiring.
 

Are you a native Washingtonian? Yes. Born & Raised in Tenino. So is my husband, Steve. I knew him in school. What’s interesting is I was homeschooled and went to private school my whole life except for 2 years. I went to Tumwater High School my freshman year and the next year I went to Tenino and he was at both schools the years that I went. We reconnected after high school and were married 3 months later!
 

Do you have any products you absolutely love? Tunawerth Cream Cheese. It’s so much creamier and more flavorful than regular store bought. And I love the Wilderness Raw Pecan Butter in the small cups. I like to eat it with a banana for a snack. What winter produce do you get excited about? Delicata Squash! I cut them in half and cook it in the oven with butter.
 

What’s your favorite part of Christmas? Hallmark Christmas movies! I would watch a Christmas movie every night. They all end up in love and happy. Christmas movies are so happy!
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Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? The Christmas Card. What’s the best present you ever got or gave? I don’t know… A few times for Christmas our family has gone to serve meals to the homeless and given Christmas stockings full of socks and things like that. My kids enjoy it too.

Sometimes you just need comfort food. This paleo-friendly shepherd's pie is a breeze to make and is incredibly satisfying and comforting. It features hearty, winter root vegetables but you could easily swap them with your families favorites or try topping it with mashed cauliflower for something a little lighter.

Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients

For the Potatoes:

• 4 white or orange sweet potatoes, diced​

• 1/4 cup of butter or ghee​​

• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk salt and pepper, to taste

​For the Filling:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil ​

• 1 leek, thinly sliced

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced

• 1 small parsnip, peeled and diced

• 3 stalks of celery, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 1/2 lbs ground lamb

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

• 2 tsp tapioca starch

• 2 tsp tomato paste

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 2 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves ​

• 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves

​Directions

1. In a large saucepan, boil the potatoes until they are tender (about 10 minutes). Mash the potatoes together with the butter, milk, salt and pepper until they are fluffy. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. Add the coconut oil to a 10-inch cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the leek, carrots and parsnip and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir. Add ground lamb, salt, and pepper then cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with tapioca flour and toss to coat. Cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, rosemary, thyme and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

4. Top the meat mixture with the mashed potatoes starting around the edge and spreading inward to prevent the mixture from boiling over.

5. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown.

6. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Not sure what to bring to those holiday parties? Swamped by main courses and side dishes and not up to preparing appetizers? The perfect, easy, and always loved solution is the cheese plate! As a lover of all things cheese and cheese related, I always delight in bringing a cheese plate to the party, and watching as people savor (and usually devour) my selections!

The Cheese: We’ll start with the basics: what kind of cheese?! The key here is variety. While we all love a good cheddar, 3 or 4 different cheddars is going to feel (and taste) a little repetitive. Start with Something well aged and a bit sharp, like Domina Dairy’s 12 month aged farm cheese.  Add something soft, like chèvre (fresh goat cheese), or Marin French’s young brie. Something recognizable is always appreciated for the more timid cheese eaters in the crowd, like Kerrygold’s two year reserve cheddar or Beecher’s flagship cheddar. Something different, like Tunawerth’s nettle gouda or Golden Glen’s lavender cheese, can be fun! Add something with a kick, like Rogue’s Oregon Blue. Other easy crowd pleasers (no cutting required) include Beecher’s Cheese Curds or local Willapa Hills Blue Cheese Spreads.

The Vessel: Variety is key here too! Offer a variety of simple crackers, my suggestions are Late July Crackers and Edward & Sons Brown Rice crackers (gluten free!). Offer a crusty bread, like a cut up baguette.

The Accompaniments:  This is a great chance to get creative. Sweet items, like dates, fruit chutney, and even honey, go well with strong or bold cheese like blue or a tangy goat. Blue Cheese with a dab of honey is a revelation! Roasted nuts offer a nice texture contrast. Artisan salami and prosciutto are guaranteed crowd pleasers that pair nicely with the aged cheeses on your platter.

The Presentation: I have a couple of decorative cutting boards I like to use, but you have tons of options! A slab of slate is fun because you can label the cheese with chalk. You can also place a piece of butcher paper over a cutting or carving board and label the cheeses and even offer pairing suggestions. Provide a different knife for each cheese (No blue on the chèvre, please). And always, always serve cheese at room temperature. And yes, you can eat the rind. Happy Holidays!